A Village War Memorial

The railway was the great fetcher and carrier in the first half of the twentieth century. In villages, towns and cities the length and breadth of the land men would have left their homes by train to go soldiering. Those who were lucky enough to survive would have returned the same way. The simple cross in Donington churchyard is a monument to those men who never returned to their peaceful Lincolnshire valley. Details of their military service are listed below.

Click on the sheet music to hear John McCormack sing 'Roses of Picardy'
Sgt. Leo Arnold Born London, enlisted Liverpool 15176, 7th King's Own Royal Lancasters Died July 31st 1916, listed Thiepval Memorial to The Missing No further information
Sgt. Wilfred Arnold, aged 26 Born, enlisted and lived Nottingham S/3618, 10th Rifle Brigade Died 12th July 1916, buried Vlamertinghe Possible only
Pte. George Bemrose, aged 22 Born E. Barkwith, enlisted Louth, lived D-o-B 11031, 6th Lincs Died 20th Nov. 1915, buried Azmac Cemetery, Gallipoli Son of Tom and Elizabeth Bemrose, D-o-B
Pte. Harry Broughton Enlisted Lincoln, lived D-o-B 40627, 6th Lincs Died 27th November 1916, listed Thiepval No further information
Pte. Wilfred Broughton Born Miningsby,enlisted Louth, lived D-o-B 62287, 2nd Prince of Wales' Own Regiment Died as P.O.W. 1st Sept 1918, buried Saralbe Mil.Cem.(Germany) No further information
Cpl. Harry Clarke Born Louth, enlisted Lincoln, lived Bourne 1281, 5th Lincs Died 29th March 1915, buried Lancashire Cottage Cemetery Foster son of Mrs F. Turner of Bourne
Pte.Fred Dickenson, aged 26 Enlisted Louth, lived D-o-B 43253, 7th Suffolks Died 12th Oct 1916, buried Beaulencourt Brit. Cem., Ligny Thilloy Son of Jacob & Eliza Dickenson of D-o-B
Pte.Mark Evison, aged 19 Born and enlisted Louth, 13641, 8th Lincs Died 26th Sept 1915, listed Loos Memorial to The Missing Of Brackenboro' Lodge, Louth
Pte.John Gilliat Born D-o-B enlisted Lincoln, lived D-o-B 204117, The North Staffords Died 20th April 1917, listed Tyne Cot Memorial to The Missing No further information
Gnr. Walter Gray Born D-o-B enlisted Louth, lived D-o-B 127714, Royal Garrison Artillery Died 8th Jan. 1918, buried North Front Cem. Gibraltar No further information
Pte. Christopher Hotchin Enlisted Louth, lived Gayton le Wold 201920, 2/5th Prince of Wales' Own Died 8th April 1917, listed Arras Memorial to The Missing No further information
L/Cpl. Wilfred Lammiman, aged 24 Born Lincoln, enlisted Birmingham, lived Louth 14926, 2nd Coldstream Guards Died 29th Oct. 1916, buried Abbeville Comm. Cem. Extension Son of William & Sarah Lammiman, D-o-B
Cpl. George Ramm, aged 19 Born Tealby, enlisted Lincoln, lived Louth 200396, 4th Lincs Died 10th April 1916, buried Peronne Comm. Cem. Extension No further information
L/Cpl. Charles Turner Born D-o-B, enlisted Market Rasen, lived D-o-B 21409, 10th Lincs Died 17th April 1918, buried Mont Huon Comm. Cem. Extension, Le Treport Son of Dora & John Turner, Ivy House, D-o-B
Pte. Robert Ward, aged 23 Enlisted Lincoln, lived Binbrook 40863, 8th Lincs Died 6th May 1917, buried Etaples Mil. Cem. Possibly - son of Charles & Elizabeth Ward, husband of Maud Ward, of Binbrook

The casualty list from Donington on Bain reflects the broad sweep of the British Army's deployment during the Great War. None of the Donington men seem to have been regular soldiers, and it is probable that most of them enlisted during the heady days of the autumn of 1914. The earliest New Army men arrived in France and Belgium in January and February 1915.

The earliest casualty is Harry Clarke. He died in the build up to what was known as the Second Battle of Ypres. By this time, most of the old Regular Army - the 'Old Contemptibles' had perished, while the expeditionary force had already left for the ill-fated landings on the Gallipoli peninsula. The early autumn of 1915 was to see another abortive attempt at a breakthrough on the Western Front, this time around the dingy coal mining town of Loos.

Four of the 1916 casualties - Leo Arnold, Harry Broughton, Fred Dickenson and Wilfred Lammiman would have died in the struggle to push the Germans off the heights above the Ancre River - the battle better known as 'The Somme'. Easter 1917 saw the assaults on the Hindenburg Line beyond Arras, while the Third Battle of Ypres began on July 31st. 1918 was to be known as the year of victories, but it was also a year of terrible slaughter, particularly in the final 'Advance to Victory' in the autumn.

The British and Commonwealth dead of the Great War are buried or commemorated in special war cemeteries, beautifully maintained by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission. These cemeteries and memorials are on land granted in perpetuity to Britain and its Allies. The cemeteries exist in all areas where the war was fought, but are overwhelmingly concentrated in France and Belgium. Some are, more or less, where the men fought and died; others are in areas where hospitals and Casualty Clearing Stations were situated.

The cemeteries are landscaped, where the climate allows, with shrubs and flowers native to the homeland of the men who rest there. The intention is to make each cemetery a small patch of 'home'. To walk amongst the marble headstones is unfailingly a moving experience. The deep sadness is compounded by the realisation that many of the dead were little more than lads - some of them still teenagers. The men who died fighting Hitler are just as dead, but it seems that in their war there was a clear and definable evil aginst which they fought; the dead of 1914-18 may have felt the same, but for us, looking back ninety years, it all seems such a waste.

Fred Dickenson (below left) is buried in a small cemetery outside the village of Beaulencourt (below, centre). Just off the main road from Bapaume to Peronne, this area was the southern limit of the British actions in the battles of summer 1916. The loss of life is put into stark perspective by the fact that the Germans retreated from there positions here in February and March 1917, but then stormed back over the old Somme battlefields a year later, pushing the Allies almost to the gates of Amiens. George Ramm (below, right) is buried in the large extension to Peronne Communal Cemetery. Peronne itself was fought over several times, and reduced to uninhabitable rubble by the war.